Fever
by katanna tagurasha
Summary: InuKag. Sensing her worry, Inuyasha pulled her close to him. 'What's up?..' The miko of the future sighed with another worried glance at their son's flushed face. 'It's just... I'm worried. What if Kiotsu's sick? He's never been sick before.'


_A/N: Hello everyone! Here we have a little one shot that just sort of came to me after I read chapter 8 of a wonderful story by sesshomaru's dokkaso called My Brother's Keeper. I am anxiously waiting an update and hope they make it soon._

_So here you have my humble little oneshot. Enjoy!_

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Disclaimer: Inuyasha? No. I do not believe I own him or ever will. Kiotsu? I better own him, seeing as he came from my own imagination! But I can never hope to own our favorite dog-eared hanyou and the world in which Rumiko Takahashi has created for him. Sigh Sad, isn't it?

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Fever

by: Katanna Tagurasha

Inspired by chapter 8 of My Brother's Keeper by: sesshomaru's dokkaso

Summary: The miko of the future sighed with another worried glance at their son's flushed face. "It's just... I'm worried. What if Kiotsu's sick? He's never been sick before."

* * *

The day seemed peaceful enough. Things had been that way after Naraku's death three years ago. It had taken three years to defeat him but they had and things had only gone uphill from there.

Kohaku was alive thanks to a certain young human girl's pleading to our favorite demon lord with whom she travelled.

Sango and Miroku were married and had been since Naraku's defeat. Though having a little trouble at first with starting their family, they were now expecting their first child.

Kikyou had been put to rest the day of Naraku's death, releasing Inuyasha from his promise, to everyone's relief, and had helped in dragging Naraku down to hell where he belonged.

The Shikon no tama had been completed and purified by our favorite miko of the future, with the help of Kaede, and luckily for her the well was left open so she hadn't been forced to choose.

On top of that, a month after Sango and Miroku's marriage Inuyasha finally got up the courage to tell her his feelings, or as close as he could get to it, and now they were very happy together as mates. But not only that, they happened to enjoy a little gift two years ago... a son who they named Kiotsu.

And now with that out of the way, back to what this story's about. A day three years after Naraku's death that seemed peaceful enough but would take a little nasty turn for our favorite hanyou and miko...

It started maybe the night before at dinner with a small tug on the kimono Kagome had taken to wearing in that time and age as she was washing the dishes from dinner.

Kagome blinked in surprise and looked down to be met with a pair of golden eyes, much like the coloring of Inuyasha's own but with her look to them. That's exactly who Kiotsu was though really. Kiotsu took after his mother in looks and personality, but with his father's golden eyes and snow white hair.

Long white hair trailed down the two year old's back, tucked behind his rounded human ears (which had been much to Kagome's and her mother's disappointment, who had been hoping for a pair of tiny dog ears). Tiny rounded fangs bit into his bottom lip as his small clawed fingers grasped tightly to her kimono. A blue haori and hakama clothed him much like Inuyasha's cloth of fire rat and just like Inuyasha, his feet were bare. Observing as her son's other hand tugged at a lock of his silky white hair, a gesture done when he was nervous, frightened, or unsure, she knew something was up but she wasn't sure what it could be.

"Yes Kiotsu?" she said, questioningly.

Kiotsu gave a another tug at his hair with another gnaw to his lip without speaking.

Kagome sighed. It still amazed her how she and Inuyasha managed to produce such a quiet child. Both of them were far from it, especially during arguements. She shook her head of the thought and turned her attention to Kiotsu.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, encouraging him to speak.

Finally the young boy spoke in a soft voice. "I don't feel so good."

Kagome's face immediately turned concerned and she bent down to his eye level. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Kiotsu nodded. "I feel dizzy, tired, and hot."

Kagome glanced over to where Inuyasha had been sitting at the table and was not surprised to see that he was now by her side with the same look of concern. The hanyou reached out a hand and placed it on his son's forehead.

"You do feel a little warm," Inuyasha said.

Kagome furrowed her brow. "You say you feel dizzy and tired?"

Kiotsu nodded, eyes a little droopy. "Mm-hm."

With that, the young child found himself held against the red-clothed chest of his father heading towards his bedroom, before being set down on his bed.

"You should be resting then," Inuyasha said, as Kagome sat down beside him, brushing aside Kiotsu's bangs to feel his forehead for herself, nodding at Inuyasha's statement. "Your dad's right. I think you have a fever. You should sleep." But the young boy was already sleeping softly.

Kagome bit her lip, worriedly, as she looked down at their son, seemingly sleeping peacefully. Sensing her worry, Inuyasha pulled her close to him. "What's up?"

The miko of the future sighed with another worried glance at their son's flushed face. "It's just... I'm worried. What if Kiotsu's sick? He's never been sick before."

The hanyou sighed and muttered 'women' before speaking up. "Hey, he'll be fine. He's got demon blood in him, don't he?"

Kagome didn't look comforted. "Yeah, but only a quarter of his blood is. He's only a quarter demon, remember? So, most of his blood is human."

Inuyasha sighed again and led her out of the room. "He'll be fine. I bet he'll even be better by morning."

* * *

He had been wrong.

That was Inuyasha's first thought when he woke up early that morning to the sound of muffled coughing and when he got up to check it out, found Kiotsu sitting up in bed, trying to soften the sound with his kimono sleeve.

Inuyasha winced as Kiotsu went into another fit of coughing. He wasn't surprised that Kiotsu hadn't noticed him yet. How would anybody be able to when it sounded like they were coughing up a lung?

It was after he was done that Kiotsu noticed him. The little boy blinked slowly, eyes dazed, probably because his face was still flushed with the fever from last night. "Daddy?"

The inuhanyou frowned at the hoarse tone to it and walked over to bend down beside his son. "Hey, pup." He winced again at Kiotsu's disheveled appearance, probably from his recent coughing attack and took a sniff to clear up his earlier suspicions. He was rewarded, or maybe not so rewarded, with the scent of sickness. "Looks like you really are sick."

Kiotsu rubbed his eye in an attempt to remove the bleariness and frowned. "I'm sorry if I woke you up," the boy said, hoarsely, before lifting his sleeve to cover up another coughing fit.

Inuyasha sighed and pulled his son into his lap, as the young boy tried desperately to stop his cough.

"What's going on?"

Inuyasha lifted his head to see his mate standing in the doorway, sleepy eyed, but her gaze turned concerned when she spotted Kiotsu shaking with his coughs. She immediately walked over and bent down beside him. "Kiotsu, are you okay?"

"I'm...okay, Mommy. It's just... a little... cough," Kiotsu said between coughs. "I'm sorry... if I... woke you up."

Kagome frowned and sighed. "You have no reason to be sorry, sweetheart. I'm just sorry I didn't realize it sooner." She stood up and turned towards Inuyasha. "I'm going to go get some cough syrup. I think I have some left over from when that village child had that terrible coughing fit. Watch Kiotsu, alright?"

Inuyasha nodded, holding his son a little tighter. Kagome left the room and returned not much later, frowning, with the cough syrup container in one hand and a spoon in the other.

"There's not much left," she said, bending down beside him again as she unscrewed the top. "I'm going to have to go back through the well for some more, but this will have to do for now." She poured the syrup into the spoon, getting out as much as she could. "I need you to help me get him to swallow this."

Inuyasha nodded, recalling what to do last time when he'd helped Kagome with the village child. He turned his attention to Kiotsu. "Oi, pup. I need you to swallow the medicine your Mom has."

Kiotsu removed his sleeve from his mouth blinked, dazedly at his mother. Then he turned his gaze down at the spoon. "Medicine?"

"Hai," Kagome nodded, holding up the spoon. "I need you to swallow this to help with your cough. Can you do that for me?"

Kiotsu blinked again but nodded, opening his mouth. Kagome reached out with the syrup filled spoon. "Now this might not taste so good but I need you to swallow it all." Kiotsu grimaced when the medicine was administered into his mouth but swallowed, well more like forced, it down. He sighed and turned his face to bury it into the warmth that was his father's fire rat haori.

But he removed it shortly after to lift his sleeve to his mouth for another coughing fit. Both present winced feeling a tug on their heartstrings.

"How long does it take to work?" Inuyasha asked, feeling helpless at the sight of the small body in his arms wracked with coughs. It was an image that brought up a few memories he didn't want to recall of Izaiyoi, princess and his mother, who also had been overcome with coughs the last he remembered her before she died...

Kagome sighed. "It won't work for another thirty minutes but I'm not sure, taking into account Kiotsu's demon blood. It could work faster. It could work slower. It might not even work at all but the best we can do is wait and see."

Inuyasha frowned, looking down again in concern at Kiotsu. Kagome seeing this, gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Who knows? Maybe he'll be better by this afternoon."

* * *

Kiotsu was not better by that afternoon or even the next morning. In fact, he seemed worse.  
Kagome had gone to her time for more medicine, explaining to her mom the reason. She had returned, giving it to Kiotsu.

The coughing had lessened a little but not by much. His face was hot to the touch and he didn't seem to have much of an appetite. He slept on and off and when he slept, he seemed to be plagued by feverish nightmares, ending up with him waking up in a sweat, eyes glazed with his fever. His breathing was getting a little shallower and he released whimpers like that of a frightened puppy that tore at both Inuyasha and Kagome. Inuyasha would hold Kiotsu when he slept in an attempt to comfort him and ease the nightmares and it seemed to work most of the time. Kagome would give Kiotsu the medicine to lessen the cough but it still seemed to have little effect. Both worked around the clock to try and make him better and both were fatigued with worry.

Their little routine was interrupted with a knock to the door, in the morning of the next, or the third day. When Inuyasha opened the door, he was met with a certain monk, sent by his wife in concern.

Inuyasha and Kagome lived outside the village, closer to the forest, and if they wanted to see Kaede or Miroku and Sango, they'd have to walk about 5 to 10 minutes. But despite this and because of how close Sango was to her due date, Kagome would visit constantly to help the woman out, and that was the reason for the taijiya sending her husband in concern, seeing as Kagome was not the kind of person to have such an absence unless something had happened.

"What're you doing here, Monk?" Inuyasha said.

Miroku frowned at Inuyasha's disheveled appearance and the tired worry in his eyes. Perhaps Sango had been right for her concern.

"What has happened to you, my friend?" the monk asked in concern. "You look much the worse for wear."

Inuyasha sighed, heavily and leaned against the doorway. "Kiotsu's been sick and Kagome and I have been taking care of him."

Miroku's brows furrowed. Kiotsu had something about him that just made you like him and the monk couldn't help but feel concern for the little boy. "Is he going to be okay?"

Inuyasha didn't get a chance to answer when Kagome arrived at the door. "Miroku-sama," Kagome said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Miroku couldn't help but notice the same fatigue in Kagome's eyes and frowned at the sight of it. How long had Kiotsu been ill and how sick was he?

"Sango was concerned for you when you never came and sent me to check up on you," the monk replied. "And it seems like she has reason for her concern."

Kagome's eyes widened in realization and she put a hand to her mouth. "Oh no! In all the worry over Kiotsu, I forgot about helping Sango! I'm sorry."

Miroku merely waved her apology away. "No need for you to be sorry. I have been helping Sango and you have an extremely good reason for staying. Kiotsu needs you." His face turned to concern. "But I must ask you, is he going to be okay? I hate to see anything happen to him."

Kagome frowned, sadly, and shook her head. "I don't know. He hasn't gotten much better. In fact, he seems to be getting worse. At this rate, I may have to take him back to my time." Kagome bit her lip as she forced back tears. Sensing this, Inuyasha pulled her to him to soothe her.

Miroku frowned. "Oh my. I'm very sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?"

Kagome shook her head, wiping her eyes. "I don't think so Miroku-sama. But please tell Sango I'm sorry that I forgot about helping her and for worrying her and that I'll help her again when Kiotsu gets better."

Miroku nodded. "I will tell her that but worry about Kiotsu. I'll worry about Sango and tell her what happened. I'll also explain to Shippo and Kaede. They have been worried as well."

Kagome nodded back. "Tell them I'm sorry to have worried them, too."

Miroku nodded, once more and said," I will say a prayer for Kiotsu and I hope he returns to his full health." With that, the monk turned around to return to his waiting wife.

Inuyasha closed the door and Kagome sighed shakily, turning to bury her face in Inuyasha's fire rat haori. She took a deep breath, taking in the soothing scent that was Inuyasha. It did not help to calm her worried mind completely but it did help a little. It was better when he held her tighter to him.

"You okay?" he asked.

Kagome sighed again and closed her eyes. "Not really. I'm so worried about Kiotsu. I want him to get better but he seems to only be getting worse."

Inuyasha sighed through his nose and rested his chin on her head. "Well, that makes two of us. I want Kiotsu to get better just as much as you do and it kills me to know that there's not much I can do to help him except to try and comfort him." Inuyasha sighed again. "I don't like feeling this helpless."

Kagome sniffed from the tears she was still trying to force back. "I feel just as helpless as you. What if he just gets worse and we really do have to take him to my time?" She held her eyes closed tightly, barely holding back her tears, voice thick. "I don't want to lose him."

Inuyasha thought about that, thinking what it would be like if that were to happen, and found himself having to fight back his own tears.  
"He's going to be fine," the hanyou said fiercely. "We're not gonna lose him, so don't talk like that."

Kagome nodded, finding his words and the determination behind them, soothing. They weren't going to lose Kiotsu, if they did... that'd be like losing their whole world...

* * *

It had taken another couple of days but it had happened.

Kiotsu's fever had broken and he finally seemed to be getting better. The coughing fits were occuring less and less often and his breathing was close to normal. He was awake more often now and his appetite had returned. The nightmares were gone and so were the heartbreaking whimpers. His eyes no longer had the glazed over look and he seemed to be more attentive. All in all, it looked like Kiotsu was going to be okay.

And that meant his parents were almost completely overcome with their relief. Kagome had broken down in tears and one or two had even escaped from Inuyasha, both had felt so overwhelmed.

It was the most peaceful it had ever been for the past few days, that night after Kiotsu had fallen asleep and was not plagued by the nightmares that had haunted him during his time of sickness.

Inuyasha sat beside his son's sleeping form and brushed aside the soft white bangs to feel the now cool forehead. The hanyou's face softened and a smile crossed his lips. Kiotsu looked so innocent when asleep. Just the way he was meant to, not crumpled up in fear at the imaginary monsters he couldn't reach.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and sighed. He'd been so frightened. He'd thought he was going to lose Kiotsu the same way he'd had to lose his mother. To the same cough, the same fever, the same nightmares, the same things that he'd been helpless to save her from...

A pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. "What're you thinking about?"

Inuyasha smiled slightly and reached up to interlace his fingers with Kagome's own. Kagome always seemed to be able to make him feel better without trying. "Just thinking about things."

"Like what?"

Inuyasha sighed softly. "Thinking about how I almost lost Kiotsu the same way as my mother..." Inuyasha trailed off sadly. "I couldn't help her."

Kagome loosened her grip as she turned him to face her, eyes soft. "You may not have been able to help your mother... but that's okay. You were able to help Kiotsu and that's good enough for me."

Inuyasha furrowed his brow in confusion. "But I didn't do much, you're the one who helped him with your medicine."

Kagome smiled. "True. The medicine did help but you gave him comfort... and I think that's what really helped."

Inuyasha stared at her for a moment before he gave a smile of his own. "I guess, but I'm just glad he's okay. That's what matters most."

Kagome smiled again and rested her head on his shoulder, looking down softly at their son. "I couldn't have said it better my self."

The End

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_A/N: So what did you think? I'm anxious to hear your opinions and whatever else you may like to say. _


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